1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to play accessories for baby dolls, and in particular to a multi-function accessory constituted by a seater module which is selectively operable in any one of four distinct modes and which when combined with a carriage module is also operable in two additional modes.
2. Status of Art
Play dolls have existed throughout the ages, as evidenced by the primitive dolls of wood, clay, bone and ivory uncovered in the ruins of ancient civilizations such as Egypt and Greece. A baby doll exerts a strong appeal, for it enables a child to play act the role of a parent, and in the course of doing so to simulate a broad range of adult activities.
The process of childhood development involves imitative behavior in which the playing child carries out an action which he has observed in the adult world. Thus a child who assembles building blocks to create a structure seeks to emulate adult activity he has seen at a building site, and he thereby gains at least a naive understanding regarding the nature of construction. And in playing with a baby doll, a girl usually imitates the parental activity she has observed and thereby learns the fundamentals of rearing children. Thus childhood play is not aimless, but represents the earliest form of apprenticeship.
The play value of a toy or doll often depends on the extent to which it puts the children in a position to simulate an adult activity. Thus a toy automobile which actually runs and can be steered is of greater sustaining interest to a player than a toy car having wheels that do not turn. By the same token, a doll which has some of the characteristics of a live baby has far greater appeal to a child than a doll lacking such characteristics.
Children are aware of the relationship of a baby to its parents, and know that no two babies are quite alike or have the same name. To commercially exploit this awareness, computer-generated baby dolls have in recent years been introduced into the doll market and though these dolls are mass-produced, no two look exactly alike. And to further blur the line of demarcation between play and reality, these individualized dolls are packaged with a blank birth certificate and adoption papers. Thus the fortunate child who comes into possession of a doll of this type is in a position to formally adopt the doll and to give the doll a name.
Because the adopted doll is now the child's own baby, in assuming the role of a responsible mother concerned with the wellbeing of her baby, the child is guided by her own experiences in this regard. For example, the child knows that the baby must be fed, it must be rocked to sleep, and on occasion it must be taken to the park in a baby carriage, while at other times, it must be seated at a table or placed securely on the seat of an automobile.
In order to satisfy these requirements, accessories are now commercially available for baby dolls, such as hand carriers, miniature high chairs, rockers, doll carriages, and various other devices appropriate to the range of activities entailed in rearing a baby doll.
These accessories, taken collectively, are quite expensive and in many cases beyond the means of the typical middle-class parent. Moreover, the accessories require a substantial amount of storage space, and this space may not be available in an already-crowded play room or other facility.